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oh ship! Firemen inspect Sindhu 17 after it caught fire at Yellow Gate harbour yesterday. pic/nimesh dave |
Outsourcing
"The main reason for such accidents is outsourcing the vessel to small-time operators," said a source from a shipping company. Most of the vessels are contracted at costs around Rs 6 crore per annum.
The contractor in turn hands over them to small-time operators, who run the vessel, for half the money and with very little expertise.
"ONGC is supposed to run background checks on these companies, which it never does. Most small-time contractors cheat on the vessel's maintenance and do not maintain safety standards," the source added.
Sindhu 17 was leased to Himachal Alkali Ltd, which had contracted it to small-time company, Arc Shipping.
Such negligence has resulted in other accidents too. Ten crewmembers of Samudrika 10 died after she sank off the Virar coast last year. While ONGC maintained there were 14 crewmembers on board, sub-contractor Sical put the figure at 17. A source said the three unauthorised crew on board were given jobs by the sub-contracting company that they weren't qualified to perform.
Another vessel, Sindhu 3, almost collided with an oil platform at Bombay High last month. MSV Samudra Suraksha caught fire and sank after she struck an oil platform in 2005. All these vessels had been contracted to small-time companies, said sources
ONGC spokesperson A Harish agreed that a large number of ships have been sub-contracted to small companies.
He, however, maintained ONGC has been keeping very high safety standards and rules are not flouted.
Sindhu 17
Around 100 men had a narrow escape when ONGC ship Sindhu 17, docked at Mazgaon Port, caught fire yesterday. "The fire spread within 10 minutes, leaving no time to save our luggage," said a worker. "The fire may have started from an AC in the room," said Jt Chief Fire Officer Deepak Gaitonde.
Rescue operations had to be stopped mid-way, as the ship started tilting when water began entering it.
